6/23/12

Saturday June 23,Greetings!!Another wonderful day in El Savador. Today we once again braved the rough roads of El Salvador so we could reach our friends in Casa De Zacate. We have found that peering out at the glorious vistas rather then the 2 feet deep ravines that flow through the paths make for a more enjoyable ride. We once again arrived at our community to a heart felt welcome. Through a palm leaf archway, a welcome sign with balloons and streamers we felt right at home.Our first item of business consisted of introductions with the community residents and and their community position they hold (President, V. President, treasurer etc.)Once introductions were complete, we heading out to each family house for presenting the gifts. In all, 24 care packages were delivered with assistance from community members. After raining the previous night, the mud paths were very slick and the assistance they provided saved the day. After delivering to approximately 20 of the families, we heading back for lunch. We were once again served a wonderful lunch consisting of Chicken and white rice. Once lunch was finished, Dave pulled out the balloons and began entertaining the kids with wonderful balloon animals.All refreshed, we headed back out to finish our final deliveries. Midway through, the rain started pouring and we stomped through the mud to reach our final families. After all the deliveries were made, we met back at the meeting shelter and had a community wide discussion just as we had in Casa De Zinc. As always, we felt nothing but deep appreciation and love from the people. We informed them how happy we were to find that the community is putting their water filters to good use. The last order of business was to distribute the clothing made by Park Avenue Presbyterian Church. One again, they expressed a deep appreciation that is difficult to describe with words. You just had to have been there!When it was time to go back to Berlin we loaded up the truck and hoped to stay dry on the way home; as if!:) It rained most of the way back but we were luckily smart enough to drag our ponchos along with us today. As we have watched so many Salvadorans point and laugh at us when we drive down the road, we decided the common joke must be "what do you call a truck load full of wet gringos? - Chicken skin!" We arrived at the house and quickly changed into dry cloths. Preparation started right away for a surprise 'thank you' party for Kathy our delegation "Mother". The delegation prepared pizza and decorated the chapel for celebration! ...Adam